Palasport Angelo Costa

Built and inaugurated by CONI (the Italian National Olympic Committee) in the Fifties, it was dedicated to Angelo Costa who, together with Orfeo Montanari, founded the volleyball club of the Gruppo Sportivo Robur Ravenna in 1945. The team played their first two games against soldiers from the Polish army who were stationed in Ravenna. Costa was also among those who, in 1946, founded the Italian Volleyball Federation. In 1964, with the promotion of Robur Ravenna to the first division, the PalaCosta began to host Serie A games. In the 1965-66 season, there were even two leading teams from Ravenna in the first division. The facility was enlarged between 1979 and 1981, with the widening of the arena. During those years, and for the following couple of decades, the sports arena also hosted concerts and musical events, such as a couple of the Ravenna Blues Festivals (which began in 1986). The building was closed in 1998 due to building regulation concerns. After purchasing the property from CONI, the municipality of Ravenna started redevelopment works, which were completed in 2009. At the building’s inauguration, Mayor Fabrizio Matteucci said: “The PalaCosta is an historic place despite having been built in the mid-twentieth century – we can say that this is the home of sport in Ravenna. It was a brave and right decision to save this space. In a period of disorientation, such as the one in which we now live, it is good to rediscover a symbolic place”. On 16 April 2016, the PalaCosta’s indoor arena was dedicated to Vigor “Bovo” Bovolenta, the volleyball champion who died prematurely on 24 March 2012.

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